(7) Iris
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	15 Dec 2025	10.1	2.302 AU	1.944 AU	10h54m	+00°51'	98.3°	25.0°
Opposition	27 Feb 2026	8.9	2.491 AU	1.508 AU	10h28m	-00°04'	171.0°	3.6°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Iris are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2302133
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865290
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.51881
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 259.49459
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 145.48204
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 61.72502
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 225.10082
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.12403
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.69            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2025-12-15 00:00 UT   10 54 20.3   +00 51 28     1.944    2.302   98.3   25.0   293   10.1 
2025-12-15 07:50 UT   10 54 32.4   +00 49 07     1.940    2.303   98.6   25.0   293   10.1 
2025-12-16 00:00 UT   10 54 56.9   +00 44 17     1.934    2.305   99.1   24.9   293   10.1 
2025-12-17 00:00 UT   10 55 32.0   +00 37 14     1.924    2.307  100.0   24.8   294   10.1 
2025-12-18 00:00 UT   10 56 05.7   +00 30 18     1.914    2.310  100.8   24.7   294   10.1 
2025-12-19 00:00 UT   10 56 37.8   +00 23 30     1.904    2.313  101.6   24.6   294   10.0 
2025-12-20 00:00 UT   10 57 08.5   +00 16 50     1.894    2.315  102.5   24.5   294   10.0 
2025-12-21 00:00 UT   10 57 37.6   +00 10 18     1.884    2.318  103.4   24.4   294   10.0 
2025-12-22 00:00 UT   10 58 05.2   +00 03 55     1.874    2.321  104.2   24.3   294   10.0 
2025-12-23 00:00 UT   10 58 31.2   +00 02 21     1.864    2.323  105.1   24.1   294   10.0 
2025-12-24 00:00 UT   10 58 55.7   +00 08 27     1.854    2.326  106.0   24.0   294   10.0 
2025-12-25 00:00 UT   10 59 18.5   +00 14 25     1.844    2.328  106.9   23.8   295   10.0 
2025-12-26 00:00 UT   10 59 39.8   +00 20 14     1.835    2.331  107.7   23.7   295    9.9 
2025-12-27 00:00 UT   10 59 59.4   +00 25 54     1.825    2.334  108.6   23.5   295    9.9 
2025-12-28 00:00 UT   11 00 17.5   +00 31 25     1.815    2.336  109.5   23.4   295    9.9 
2025-12-29 00:00 UT   11 00 33.8   +00 36 46     1.806    2.339  110.5   23.2   295    9.9 
2025-12-30 00:00 UT   11 00 48.5   +00 41 58     1.796    2.341  111.4   23.0   295    9.9 
2025-12-31 00:00 UT   11 01 01.6   +00 47 00     1.787    2.344  112.3   22.8   295    9.9 
2026-01-01 00:00 UT   11 01 12.9   +00 51 53     1.778    2.347  113.2   22.6   296    9.9 
2026-01-02 00:00 UT   11 01 22.6   +00 56 35     1.768    2.349  114.2   22.4   296    9.8 
2026-01-03 00:00 UT   11 01 30.5   -01 01 07     1.759    2.352  115.1   22.2   296    9.8 
2026-01-04 00:00 UT   11 01 36.8   -01 05 29     1.750    2.354  116.1   22.0   296    9.8 
2026-01-05 00:00 UT   11 01 41.3   -01 09 41     1.741    2.357  117.0   21.8   296    9.8 
2026-01-06 00:00 UT   11 01 44.0   -01 13 41     1.732    2.360  118.0   21.6   296    9.8 
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   11 01 45.0   -01 17 31     1.723    2.362  119.0   21.4   297    9.8 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   11 01 44.3   -01 21 10     1.715    2.365  120.0   21.1   297    9.8 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   11 01 41.7   -01 24 38     1.706    2.367  121.0   20.9   297    9.7 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   11 01 37.4   -01 27 54     1.698    2.370  122.0   20.6   297    9.7 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   11 01 31.3   -01 30 59     1.689    2.373  123.0   20.3   297    9.7 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   11 01 23.4   -01 33 52     1.681    2.375  124.0   20.1   298    9.7 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   11 01 13.7   -01 36 34     1.673    2.378  125.0   19.8   298    9.7 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   11 01 02.1   -01 39 03     1.665    2.380  126.0   19.5   298    9.7 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.